How to Reset System Folders

Applies to: Exchange Server 2007 SP1, Exchange Server 2007

Topic Last Modified: 2007-09-19

This topic explains how to use the Microsoft Exchange Server GUID Generator (GUIDGen) tool and the Active Directory Service Interfaces (ADSI) Edit tool to reset system folders. You cannot use the Exchange Management Console or the Exchange Management Shell to perform this procedure.

Caution:

Resetting system folders can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Problems resulting from resetting system folders may not be able to be resolved. Before performing this procedure, back up any valuable system data.

This procedure deletes the existing system folder and creates a new system folder. Resetting system folders applies to administrative groups and offline address books (OABs) independent of each other. You should perform this procedure against administrative groups only when your system is experiencing severe problems with free/busy data. You should perform this procedure against a specific OAB only when you are experiencing severe problems with that specific OAB.

Note:

Although you can perform this procedure by using any Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) editing program, such as LDP.exe, this topic focuses on using the GUIDGen and ADSI Edit tools.

This procedure is a two-step process:

Step 1 Use the GUIDGen tool to create a new GUID for the system folder.

Step 2 Use the ADSI Edit tool to replace the SiteFolderGUID with the newly generated GUID.

After you replace the system folder, the only replicas of the system folder that exist will be located on the system folder server. The new system folder will have a new GUID. The system will detect the new system folder that you have replaced and delete the previous system folder.

Important:

It may take several hours for the system to detect the new folder. During this time, users may retrieve incorrect free/busy data or download the wrong OAB.

To perform the following procedures, the account you use must be delegated the following:

Exchange Server Administrator role and local Administrators group for the target server

ADSI Edit can be run from a client computer or server. The computer does not have to be a member of a domain, but the user must have the rights to view and edit the Active Directory domain to which they are connecting. For more information about how to use ADSI Edit, see Adsiedit Overview.

For more information about permissions, delegating roles, and the rights that are required to administer Exchange Server 2007, see Permission Considerations.

Under GUID Format, click Registry Format (i.e. {xxxxxxxx-xxxx...xxxx}), and then click Copy as seen in the following figure.

Click Exit.

Start a text editor, such as Notepad.

Paste the GUID into the document.

Remove all brackets and hyphens from the GUID.

If you are using ADSI Edit that is included with Microsoft Windows Server 2003, add a space between every two characters. For example:

Before 72D9691FA2194b798F24C0F6E5D2115F

After 72 D9 69 1F A2 19 4b 79 8F 24 C0 F6 E5 D2 11 5F

If you are using an LDP editing program such as LDAP to replace the SiteFolderGUID with the newly generated GUID, type 0x (note that 0 is the zero character) before every two characters in the GUID, and then add a space after every two characters. For example:

To edit the administrative group to correct free/busy errors, you must expand the Configuration container, and then perform the following steps to locate the Administrative Groups container:

Expand CN=Configuration,DC=<domain>,DC=com

Expand CN=Services

Expand CN=Microsoft Exchange

Expand CN=Organization

Expand CN=Administrative Groups

Right-click the administrative group that you want to modify, such as CN=ExchangeAdministrative Group, and then click Properties.

Continue to Step 5 of this procedure.

To edit the OAB to correct OAB errors, you must expand the Configuration container:

To edit the OAB to correct free/busy errors, you must expand the configuration container:

Expand CN=Configuration,DC=Domain,DC=com

Expand CN=Configuration,DC=<domain>,DC=com

Expand CN=Services

Expand CN=Microsoft Exchange

Expand CN=Organization

Expand CN=Address Lists Container

Click CN=Offline Address Lists

In the result pane, right-click the OAB that you want to modify, and then click Properties.

Click the Attributes tab or the Attribute Editor tab.

Under the Attributes column, click SiteFolderGuid.

Click Edit, and then select Hexadecimal in the Edit value as box.

In the Value box, delete the current value, and then paste the GUID that you formatted earlier in this procedure with space characters.

Click OK.

Click Apply, and then click OK to close the Properties dialog box.

Close ADSI Edit, and then restart the Exchange-related services.

Note:

If you want to have the changes take place immediately in your organization, you can dismount, and then remount the public folder database that is identified by the object's siteFolderServer attribute after Active Directory replication has occurred. For more information about how to dismount a database, see How to Dismount a Database. For more information about how to mount a database, see How to Mount a Database.